"I thought we signed up for the same thing... I thought our relationship was perfectly clear. You are an escape. You're a break from our normal lives. You're a parenthesis"

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

As Soon as You Get it You Want Something New

I started this post about a year after I started my blog but have never used it. It's lived on a flash drive in my office desk in dormancy. And now, as I am determined to bring this blog to closure and am in dire need of content, I am bringing it out. In my first blog entry I wrote that my fantasy job would
have been a sportswriter.I do think I
am a decent writer.I minored in English
in college and did write sports for my high school and college newspapers.My English minor was in technical writing
though so with that and coupled with my training in the 5 W’s and H from
Journalism I tend to be an efficient writer specializing in a bullet pointed “less
is more” style.This blog has given me
the chance to expand myself to flesh out the writing in order to build
characters and stories. When I started writing the blog I first wrote in a Word document. At one point I realized that the Word doc was over 100
pages, well on its way to being book-sized!

I think I also mentioned in an earlier blog entry that I had
some ideas of stories that I had partially written in my mind over the
years.So with that in mind I would like
to throw out one of my story ideas here for some critical feedback.Now that I know I have the ability to produce
100+ pages of junk, why not take a stab at a novel!

To set the story line up I will say that this was inspired
by personal experiences or perhaps more accurately thoughts and feelings.Several years ago while mired in a career
crisis in the Midwest I had the opportunity to
interview for a job at my alma mater.This was a perfect job and I knew I would be a good fit.Furthermore a former boss who hired me out of
college at another business was now at my alma mater and would be my bosses’
boss at the university if I was hired.

This was a slam dunk, a done deal in my mind – Shannon and I
were already thinking about what schools our girls would attend, what
neighborhood we would live in.It was
very exciting and a rare escape from an island of discontent into a truly
better world.

So I prepared and prepared for the interview.I psyched myself up and nailed the many
interviews I had over the course of a full day.At the end of the day I was talking to my former boss who I considered
to be a mentor and friend.I just
casually asked if there were any internal candidate as it had not been
mentioned beforehand which tends to be professional courtesy.He said there was an internal candidate but
nothing had been decided ahead of time.Of course my mind raced, I had spoken with ever person involved with the
operation – which one was the “internal?”There was one guy about my age who was very professional and seemed very
motivated and energetic.In fact I had
connected with him a bit.He had a young
daughter, about my daughter’s age and was a single dad (where the mom was did
not come up obviously).

Of course that ended up being the guy who got the job.I was beyond crushed but I couldn’t help feeling
a bit happy for the guy.This was the
opportunity of a lifetime for him and would set him and his daughter up for
life.Such a strange and difficult
paradox to deal with on a personal level but I am always intrigued by paradox.

And so some time later as I pondered my feelings I
envisioned a movie around this storyline.Of course just interviewing for a job and not getting it is of no
interest to anyone.But throw in
anticipation, desperation, aspiration, dejection, anger, sorrow, love, hate,
fear, yada, yada and you have the makings of a murder mystery story around this
same plot.Of course I will change scenery,
names, careers, etc. to make it more interesting.And of course I am not really crazy so I have
never actually thought about making fiction reality here. JBut I do think it is a good story idea.So what follows will be my attempt to put
that story into an initial script outline so to speak.

By the way, I'm a little late to the game now that Netflix has scored big with Last Chance U. I am a total addict to that show as it hits close to home.

Fourth and Long (or Two Minute Warning):

The Background:

Dalton Drakeford is the archetypical All-American guy.He is from Santa Cruz, CA.His dad, Duke Drakeford (“Double D” to his
friends), was a legendary high school football coach from the area.Double D was famous for being ahead of his
time for his high energy, wide open, throw it all over the field style
offenses. Dalton
was his greatest quarterback.Dalton was all everything in high school and went on to
play quarterback and star at NorthernCaliforniaStateUniversity
(mythical).He had a great career and
was All-Conference and Academic All-American.He did get some pro try-outs but in the end although “mobile and cagy – the typical coaches son”
he was a bit undersized to make it in the pros.But that didn’t matter because as his dad told him “it’s time to move onto your life’s work.”And that was to be a coach, the path he
always knew he would take from the day people started calling him “Double D
Jr.”Additionally he was now engaged to
his college sweetheart Katie.Katie is a
beauty from Northern California as well and
was majoring in Elementary Education.They
were excited to start a life together eagerly awaiting the path of success that
undoubtedly lay ahead.

Hell-a-Good Hair Coach T as DD Jr.

Early on Dalton
and Katie’s life charted according to plan.Dalton
stays on at NCSU as a graduate assistant while Katie finishes school.

Note:underpaid graduate assistant is usually the
necessary entry into college athletics and even at that you usually need to
have connections to get that first opportunity but of course Dalton always had plenty of connections.

Could be Katie or cute adviser from LCU

After Katie and Dalton finish
there degrees Dalton gets that first full time
opportunity as a position coach at OmahaStateUniversity
(mythical) in the Mid-West where his old quarterback coach at NCSU had gone to
become the head coach.Life away from California is difficult but Dalton
loves being fully dedicated and Katie knows this is the sacrifice that needs to
be made to get Dalton
started on that career path that will undoubtedly land him that Pac-10 coaching
job by his mid-30’s.For the meantime
Katie is content to be a wife and a kindergarten teacher and of course she is
excited to plan for the family she dreams of.

Dalton
becomes somewhat of a guru on recruiting in the Mid-West, particularly that
great JUCO talent base throughout the Plains.Over the next 8 years Dalton moves three
times to progressively better jobs and eventually is the offensive coordinator
at TexasPanhandleState
(mythical) a top notch FCS school.He is
now on the verge of being a head coach.But upon sending out feelers about some head coaching opportunities at
the D-I level he gets feedback that his biggest detriment is that he has never
been the “top guy,” that he needs
some actual “head coaching experience.”Isn’t that always the catch how do you get
the job when you can never get the experience.

On a whim a colleague suggests he go interview for “that opportunity at OklahomaPanhandleJunior College.It’s a solid if not great program with great
potential.If you can turn it around
there it will build your resume and give you that experience you need.With your energy you should be able to turn
that program around in 3 years and be on your way.”

So Dalton
and Katie are now off to a small town in the Oklahoma Panhandle.At 32 now Dalton is not exactly a youngster but this
should get him at least a “Mid-Major” head coaching job by 35.And then it would be on to the big-time.

Of course the best laid plans don’t always work.Three years turn to 5 and Dalton is still at OPJC and the turn around
isn’t as easy as it seemed.And now he
is not the up and comer, he is starting to be the guy who can’t get things
turned around.It’s not that the team is
awful; it’s just that a 27-23 record over 5 years with no bowl games just
doesn’t turn heads.And for coaches on
the fast track as they say “just win
baby.”So the big time slowly gets
farther and farther away like the tide going out after midnight.The folks in the OPJC community do love Dalton and Katie and they
would be welcome there indefinitely.The
good side is no pressure here for championships; the downside is when do you
let mediocrity become satisfactory.

But as Dalton starts
preparing for spring football again he sees that the Offensive Coordinator at NorthernCal
has just left to take the head coaching job at Colorado Tech.And Dalton
knows that Coach C at NCSU is near retirement.The guy that gets that Offensive Coordinator job now might be on an inside
track to being the Head Coach in just a few years.Yes, these are the fates determining his
direction.Dalton calls Coach C about the opportunity
and they have a great conversation.Coach C is glad Dalton
is interested and encourages him to apply.

Soon after the call Dalton
gets his chance to interview.He and
Katie are ecstatic.They begin earnest
discussions on what neighborhood to live in, where are the best schools.Dalton’s
mom and dad are cautiously optimistic but all are happy.

The interview goes well although Dalton is a little underwhelmed by the
reception at NCSU.Coach C was certainly
glad to see him and asked a lot of questions about Katie, the kids, his dad,
etc.It was more like a family reunion
than an interview, should he be worried about that?The team of assistant coaches, while certainly
cordial and respectful, didn’t seem really excited to meet him.Perhaps he is just being conceited.He did leave NCSU 13 years ago, for most of
these coaches he is just a name on the wall of letter winners and just another
guy trying to score a great coaching opportunity.A few days after the interview Dalton has a follow up
call with Coach C and he finds out that one of the offensive coaches he met (Jim
Bergsten) has also applied for the job.Coach C says “nothing has been decide
yet and that nothing is a slam dunk, I’ll be in touch in about a week to keep
you posted”

Of course one week turns to two and then two and a half and
finally Dalton
calls Coach C.Apparently the job was
offered to Jim and they were working out the details.Coach C is sorry and says he was going to
call later in the week.He says he
wishes he had 2 jobs “because we would
love to have you on board.But with your
experience you will land something soon.Best of luck to you and stop by whenever you’re in town.”

So there it is the dream over, no plan B – only reality back
to Western Oklahoma.But how does one feel when your dreams die - sad,
angry, happy for Jim (he did seem like a great guy), glad we don’t have to move
the kids half way across the county (rationalizing)?

The main point though – one guy, good or bad, stands between
Dalton and the
life he had dreamed of since he was a boy!

Dalton
goes back to work, spring football starts in one week but this year he has
little motivation.He is all consumed by
the lost opportunity – his lost opportunity and how to feel about it.

Then one night he has the dream.In the dream he travels back to NCSU and
removes the road block, the guy standing in the way from HIS life.Just a little accident, something that could
easily happen on one of those windy Northern California
ocean-view drives.And with the road
block removed, he is back on track.A
horrible act to be sure but one deal with the devil and then a lifetime making
up and enjoying the good life he was destined for.

Main Cast:

Dalton
DrakefordLuke Wilson

Katie DrakefordElizabeth
Banks

Duke DrakefordScott
Glenn

Coach CBruce
McGill

Jim BergstenPaul
Rudd

President NCSUJames
Cromwell

Story Progression:

The story would be in medias res.The opening scenes will be set in a
dream-like sequence just after Dalton
has apparently acted on his dream.From
there, the story will alternate between the recent past to include the lead up
to the interview, the rejection after the interview, the planning of the act,
and then the act alternating with flash-backs to his life growing up,
in-college, meeting Katie, playing at NCSU, and his coaching career through his
years at OPJC.

Ultimately at the end we are brought back to the present
which will be just after the act.There
will be another scene where Dalton
wakes up from a dream in a pool of sweat and we will be left to wonder if the
entire story of the act is in fact a dream.

The story could be left there if you want an Indie-style
movie.Perhaps sirens sounding in the
background or a police officer at the door and we are left to wonder if he has
been caught.

For a Hollywood ending Dalton would wake up, realize it was
a dream, realize the thought is horrible, and then go off to practice feeling a
bit better while breathing a sigh of relief and determined to “gut it out and persevere like his dad
would.”

Once at practice his assistant would say “good mornin’ coach, hey coach, there is a
message for you from Bobby DeLoss at Colorado
Tech.” The assistant says, “isn’t he the new coach there?He must be needin’ some quick fixes from the
JUCO ranks, you think Jefferson or Marshall (OPJC players) could play at the
FBS level?”

Dalton
walks slowly to his office sighs and then dials the number on the note left on
his desk.The secretary at the CTU
football office politely answers and says “Hello
Coach Drakeford, Coach DeLoss was looking forward to your call, he said put you
through as soon as I hear from you.”

A few seconds later the husky but energetic voice of Coach
DeLoss answers the phone “Coach
Drakeford, thanks for calling!Hey, I
was just on the phone with Coach C up at Northern Cal;
you know I worked for him over there!He
says I need to be talking to you about the new offense I want to put in here at
CTU!I know you were disappointed……
(conversation continues but slowly fades away).”Dalton
slowly turns in his seat while listening to look out of his office window onto
the OPJC football field as players in practice uniforms make there way onto the
field.

…..Dalton:“Sure
Coach DeLoss, Katie and I would love to visit CTU when would you like to see
us.”

2 comments:

Anonymous
said...

GresG story line! You should go ahead and do this! However idI like to add the possibility of a final plot twist for the hilkywoHo ending - weave in a side story where your main character is faced with the personal issues of one of his key players, and shows his coaching talents by going that extra mile to insoire him to fight the hurdles and go on to greatness at a higher level - giving your main character true personal satisfaction and making him feel he's great at what he does, at exactly the position he's currently at. Planting a doubt: is his long time dream just a vaknand superficial one? Isn't purosep, dedication and selfless act of helping others along more rewarding in the long run?

And when that offer finally presents itself - idI like to think that he's grown past that youthfully naive dream of the "perfect career path" and instead choose what's right for his kids, wide, team and, eventually, himself - and turns it down.

Wow! The backroads and twisty turns of your brain are really something! Thanks for the look in there... so much football, so much male pressure to BE SOMEONE validated by a job, so much Ryan! For my edit request, you should definitely add a sweet secret love interest. :)